SAINU
by Tavern Bard
Summary: God has finally granted Sai the thing that he wanted the most. That is to return to the living world and with a body to booth. But just when he thinks nothing could go wrong, he realizes that the body that he gets isn't exactly what he expected.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: God has finally granted Sai the thing that he wanted the most. That is to return to the living world and with a body to booth. But just when he thinks nothing could go wrong, he realizes that the body that he gets isn't exactly what he expected.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Warning: English is not my native language, so there'll be some grammatical errors.

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Chapter I – This is not what I expected 

Fujiwara no Sai had been sitting by himself on the shore of the beautiful lake in heaven for a long time now. His eyes focused on the reflection on the lake water in front of him. And a passerby who didn't' know him enough might mistaken him for being narcissistic. But whoever who thought that couldn't be more wrong because what he was staring at was definitely not his own reflection.

After much whining on his first few days in heaven, Sai had been allowed by God to follow the progress of Shindou Hikaru's professional Go career. And once a day he could watch some Go related scenes from his ex-pupil's daily life on the lake water's reflection.

Right now, he was watching an official match between Shindou 4-dan against Isumi 4-dan. It wasn't one of those title matches and just one of the oteai games. But if Hikaru won this game, he would be promoted to 5-dan. And Sai had a very strong feeling that he would win.

Even though a 4-dan rank was not a bad achievement for an eighteen years old boy in itself. Hikaru's rival, Touya Akira had just been promoted to 7-dan. And Sai knew that Hikaru would want to get his own promotion as soon as possible. The boy, or young man to be more exact, would never let his rival left him too far behind as if his life was depend on it.

Sai was so engrossed on the scene before him that he didn't even notice when an angel approached him from behind. And after standing patiently behind him for a few moments, said angel finally decided to tap him on the shoulder. But still, he was ignored. Finally, with an exasperated sigh he decided to leave Sai and returned later when the go player spirit had finish watching the scene.

As expected, Hikaru won his game. The young man's skill had improved a lot since he left about four years ago. A soft smile was gracing Sai's lips as he started to stand. It was a very amusing game indeed. Just when he was about to leave though, he could hear someone calling his name.

"Fujiwara-san. Now that you've finished your favorite pastime, can you please come with me?" The angel said with a small smile gracing his handsome face.

Sai recognized the angel instantly as one of God's messenger. And he returned the angel's smile with a small bow.

"Of course. I would be glad to come." Sai answered politely.

He would be a fool to refuse. The angel's tone might suggest a request but a request that came from a messenger angel was more or less an order for the denizens of heaven.

The angel's smile grew wider and with a murmured "This way please", he led Sai to meet the one who sent him. Sai's heart was beating fast with anxiety and curiosity. For what reason was he being called for? Did God decided to take away his privilege to watch over Hikaru's progression.

"No! Please not that one." Sai thought earnestly. "At least not until the he reached the hand of God."

Lost in his thoughts, he was barely aware when they arrived before a huge gate made of gold. The angel opened the gate with a simple wave of his right hand. And they entered the room beyond the door without too much fuss.

When they arrived in front of the shining figure of God, both Sai and the angel bowed low. Sai then proceeded by kneeling before the imposing figure at the throne while his escort walked away to the far left corner of the room.

"Fujiwara no Sai!" Said the booming but melodious voice.

"Yes, Kami-sama." Answered Sai, with as polite of a tone that he could muster. And that was a lot considering how polite he already was.

"I have decided to granted you with a great boon. If you want to, you can return to the world of the living again. You will even be granted a body and not just as a houseless spirit."

Sai was very glad that he already on his knees because he was sure that he would fall if he weren't. What an amazing offer! Of course he wanted to return. And with a body he would be able to play Go again. He could play as many games as he wanted with anyone who was willing to play him. What good deed that he had done to deserve such an offer?

"So what say you to this? Do you want to return?" Asked the voice before him.

"Y-yes." He answered excitedly and then added belatedly. "Kami-sama."

"Good. You see the portal to your right? When you enter that portal, you will be transported into your new body back to earth." When the voice said that, the angel, who had escorted him, re-appeared at his side and guided him to the portal.

Sai was about to enter the portal when he finally asked the question that nagged in his mind.

"Kami-sama, what have I done to deserve this great opportunity?" he asked unsurely.

The answer didn't come immediately but when he was about to give up and left, the answer finally came.

"I know how much you care about the young man and a terrible thing will happen to him soon. So I have decided that it is better for you to be by his side when it happens rather that simply watch it from heaven."

"What kind of terrible thing?" In his worry for Hikaru, Sai almost forgot his manner.

"That I cannot tell. Now leave while the portal is still open. In your new body you will be able to stay by the young man's side almost all the time and be able to help him."

And with that order, Sai entered the portal as fast as his immortal feet could take him. The last thing he saw before being engulfed by a blinding light was the gentle smile on the angel's face.

The swirling light didn't fade until a few moments and he felt so light, like flying. But then the sensation stopped and after awhile the light began to fade. After that a variety of sounds started to fill his sensitive ears. And soon after that, his sight also returned.

The first thing that he realized was the difference in sight. Somehow his surroundings seemed to be less colorful but he could see more widely. And then he also noticed how his hearing and smelling senses are very, very sharp. One thing that he realized belatedly was how near his face to the ground and that instead of standing on two legs, he was standing on FOUR legs.

That was when he finally realized that the body that he was in, wasn't a human body. Fortunately, or not, there was a pond not far from where he stood and Sai decided to run to said pond to see his reflection.

An unclear image of a pair of erect and triangular ears, a long snout, a face that was covered in black and white fur, and a pair of sharp eyes filled his sight. And after seeing said reflection, he was screaming in agony, which came out as a howling sound.

He was a dog, a cute looking one, but still a dog. How was he supposed to communicate with people if he was a dog? How could he convince Hikaru about who he was? Oh, this couldn't be happening. There must have been some mistakes here. Or there weren't? And this was what he got for being such a whiny spirit?

For a while he could only drown himself in self-pity and if there were passerby, they would simply saw him as a sad and stranded Siberian Husky pup, because that was the body that he got. Fujiwara no Sai, the Go master was now a 7 months old black and white Siberian Husky dog.

To Be Continued

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Kami-sama means God. Sorry for the use of Japanese language but I think it will be a bit weird sounding if Sai called God as 'God'. 

Opinions and constructive criticisms are very welcome but flames aren't. This author is highly combustible.


	2. To Find Hikaru

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Warning: Same with the first chapter.

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**Chapter II – To Find Hikaru**

After moping for a very long time, finally Sai had managed to get himself calm enough. He was here to help Hikaru and if he wanted to do that he had to find him first. After that he could mope all he wanted but not now. He started to scan his surroundings, looking for anything familiar. He was sent to help Hikaru, so he was sure the portal would at least drop him in Tokyo.

At the beginning it was a bit hard to get used to his new sight, especially with the new point of view. He used to see everything from standing position and now he had to see from a position that was more or less similar with a human's laying position. So it was a bit of a challenge to recognize his surroundings.

The first thing that he realized was that it was almost sunset and that he was in a small park. That could be easily said from the grass covered ground, some benches, and the nearby pond. His strong smelling sense could also catch the wonderful aroma of food from the _takoyaki _stand near the park's gate. And that was when he remembered something useful.

He had visited that stand before. Hikaru once brought some _takoyaki_ from said stand on his way home from the Go institute but then whined about how disgusting the taste was. So that was the first and the last time they ever dropped by here. But if his memories served him right, this park located not far from the institute and he could still vaguely remembered the way back there. If he could get to the institute it would be easier for him to find Hikaru. All he had to do was wait, and hopefully sooner rather than later, Hikaru would pass by.

With a loud 'whoo' of excitement, Sai made out his mind and started to run to the gate and out of the park.

He had been running for about fifteen minutes when he finally accepted the fact that he was lost. In his excitement, he must have taken a wrong turn or something. And now he couldn't even remember how to backtrack his way to the park.

"Oh great!" he thought ironically. "Now, I will never be able to find him."

Being in this predicament really made him wished that he paid more attention to his surroundings when he was a ghost. But back then; all he had to do was tagged along behind Hikaru, so he didn't have the need to do that. But now, he sadly regretted his lack of attention on anything else other than Go.

Didn't know what to do next, the dog could only sit at the sideway and stared confusedly to the passersby. But it seemed that God hadn't forsaken him because after a while, he suddenly saw the familiar face of the person that he had been looking for, Shindou Hikaru.

000

Hikaru was walking in a cheerful mood. His heart still felt light after the wonderful victory that he got today. With that victory he was finally promoted to 5-dan, something that would bring him one step closer to his rival. Isumi-san seemed to understand that. Even though he still looked disappointed after the lost, the kind-hearted pro had congratulated Hikaru on his win. He even willingly went to the celebration of Hikaru's promotion after that.

They had been celebrating it on a newly opened sushi restaurant a few blocks away from the institute. Hikaru would have preferred ramen instead but Waya had declared loudly that since it was HIS treat, he was the one who had the right to choose the place. So he, along with Waya, Isumi, Saeki, Honda, and Fukui, had spent the whole afternoon at the sushi restaurant, eating and chatting.

They had part ways in front of the restaurant ten minutes ago and now he was alone. He had been thinking about the many possibilities of Touya's reactions after he told his rival about his promotion, most likely he would say something like 'about time', when he suddenly felt as if someone or something was following him. And when he turned around to see who his follower was, he could only gape in confusion.

At first he couldn't see anyone, but after looking further down, he finally found who his stalker was. It was a little puppy, a Siberian Husky to be more exact. He knew that because Touya had some Huskies figurines, which he placed on top of the television set. Its fur was a mix of black and white, and it was looking at Hikaru with a hopeful expression on its pale blue eyes. The expression sent a tinge of sadness to Hikaru's heart because somehow it reminded him with Sai's expression whenever he wanted to play Go.

"You want some food right? Sorry, but I don't have any…" Said Hikaru regrettably.

He could have sworn that the dog looked offended when he said that but he blamed that to his overly active imagination and shrugged it off. He really didn't know what to do when the dog kept on starring at him so he decided to just ignore it and walked on. Hopefully, it would go away after a while.

He had walked for another few minutes but the dog was still following him and it started to creep him out. And to covered it, he spun angrily to the dog and shouted at the top of his lungs

"What do you want from me? I've told you I got no food. So stop following me already." He said with a withering glare at the dog. He knew it must have looked silly for him to yell at a dog but he really hated being followed.

Now the dog looked hurt and let out a sad howl. But it still stubbornly sat before him with that hopeful look. The sad expression melted Hikaru's heart. And out of guilt he finally knelt before the dog and patted it behind the ears.

"Aww, you poor little dog. You are stranded, aren't you? I'm really sorry but I can't take you home. Touya will kill me if I do." Said Hikaru with a cringe on his face.

He had shared an apartment with Touya for five months now. Half a year ago, his father got a promotion that required him to move to Australia and Hikaru had adamantly refused to move out with his parents. So he had to find an apartment as soon as possible. He had told Touya about his situation on one of their unofficial games on the Go salon. And surprisingly, either it was out of pity or just to make Hikaru stopped moping and started to concentrate on their game properly, probably the later, Touya offered to share his new apartment with Hikaru as long as he was willing to pay half of the rent and helped him do his chores.

Hikaru had accepted the offer gratefully and since then they had shared the apartment with thankfully not that much arguments except when they were playing Go. They had respected each other's personal lives and it seemed to work fine enough so far. But if he dared to bring a dog home, he was sure that the peacefulness would be ruined. And he knew better than to wake a sleeping dragon.

It wasn't that Touya hated dogs. In fact he loved dogs, especially Siberian Huskies. That was the reason why he had many of its figurines. But the great Touya Akira was allergic to animal's fur. He found out how bad it was after his rival's encounter with Akari's new cat a few months ago. The poor guy couldn't stop sneezing that he finally decided to see a doctor who then gave him a medicine that put him into the state of half-awake for the next three days. So there was no way he would accept a fury animal in his apartment.

But he knew that if he left the dog, he would felt guilty for the rest of his life. The newly promoted 5-dan was torn between decisions now. To brought or not to brought the dog home. But finally he made his decision.

000

It had been a very long day for Touya Akira. After all, there were only so much shidougo with old men that a person could take before being completely drained both mentally and physically. When he finally returned home, all he wanted were a hot shower, a good meal, and a long peaceful sleep without any disturbance. So it was completely understandable that he screeched like a banshee when he opened the door of his apartment and was greeted by the sight of a puppy sprawled on his beloved couch beside his rival.

"Oh, hi Touya." Shindou greeted with a fake cheerfulness and a guilty look on his face. And then quickly added "I can explain this!"

And the only reply that Akira could give was "You're dead!"

To be continued

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Siberian Huskies rarely bark and most of the time they just howl or yowl to communicate.

Next Chapter: A Go Playing Dog?


	3. A Go Playing Dog?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Warning: Same with the first chapter. I hope the grammatical mistakes didn't ruin the storyline.

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**Chapter III – A Go Playing Dog?**

Touya Akira was in one of his rarely seen full wrath mode and nothing that Shindou Hikaru said could calm him down enough. Even telling his rival about his promotion did little to appease the 7-dan. It had taken the whole night to convince Touya about the dog. And right now, Hikaru was already run out of words. He could no longer count how many times he had convinced Touya that he was only going to keep the dog until he could find the owner.

"Tomorrow I have a match against Kurata-san on the Meijin league, Shindou, and I'll need a good sleep tonight. How can I sleep well if I can't stop sneezing through the night." Touya said with malice in his tone, then after a while added suspiciously. "This isn't one of your dirty tricks to get me off the league, right?"

"Of course not!" Retorted Hikaru angrily. "You should have known that I'm not that low, Touya. Besides, you have only sneezed twice since you're back three hours ago, so stop exaggerating already!"

Touya was silent by the realization that what his rival said was true. Sure, he had sneezed when he got too close to the dog but it wasn't bad at all compared to his last exposure to a fury pet, namely Fujisaki's cat.

Seeing his rival confused face, Hikaru grinned smugly. "I had called a vet as soon as I returned home. She said that as long as I washed the dog often enough and it didn't get too near to you, it wouldn't cause you much trouble. She also offered a vaccination to lessen your allergy if you wanted it."

Touya looked undecided for a few minutes. He stared at the dog, then at Shindo, and then back at the dog again. Said dog only gave him the hopeful look, similar to the one that he used to melt Hikaru's heart, and hoped that it would also work on Touya.

Finally the raven hair Go prodigy let out a sigh of defeat and said "Have you checked with the proprietor yet? I'm not sure that animals are allowed here?"

"I will do that tomorrow. But I do know that the old man on the second floor own many parrots, so I think it'll be okay." Answered Hikaru with a convincing note.

"All right, it can stay here, but only until you find its owner." Akira said tiredly. "And you better start to do that tomorrow."

"I will. Thanks Touya, I'm sure Sibe is also very thankful for your kindness." Said Hikaru with a grin.

"Sibe? Is that what you called the dog." Asked Touya. And after seeing Hikaru's nod of affirmation, he added ironically, "How very creative of you Shindou."

After that, the raven hair pro decided to retire for the day and went to his bedroom. But before closing his bedroom door, he added, "Oh, and congratulations on your promotion."

And with that last sentence, Touya Akira closed the door to finally have his much needed beauty sleep. As soon as the door was closed, Hikaru gave a wide grin to the dog that answered him with a cheerful 'whoo'.

"You're lucky, Sibe. I think the only reason that Touya allow you to stay is because you're a Siberian Husky. I might not be able to convince him if you're not." Said Hikaru while he petted the dog's head. "But he's right, I'll have to find your owner soon. Or if I can't find them, finding you a new master."

As if the dog understood his last remark, the small Husky placed his head sadly on Hikaru's right thigh. The bleached bang pro could only smile at the dog's intelligence. He knew that dogs were smart but this dog seemed to have an unnatural intelligence. Somehow, it was too smart even for a dog. But once again he shrugged it out of his mind. He got better things to do than pondering about a dog's intelligence. And with that thought he too decided to go to bed. It was already late and he would have a long day tomorrow.

000

Fujiwara no Sai was thinking hard. Right now, he was on the floor in Hikaru's bedroom and the young man was already fast asleep on his bed. He had finally found Hikaru but if he couldn't find of a way to make the 5-dan realized whom he was, he would soon be sent away. Talking was out of the question now, so he had to find another way to communicate. But what could he done to make Hikaru recognized him?

His ex-pupil would recognize his Go but… That thought made Sai paused in his musing. Of course! He could use Go as a way to communicate. Both of them had played hundreds of games together, that he was sure Hikaru would know his style liked the back of his own hands. Yes, he would try it and as soon as possible. And Sai only allowed himself to fall asleep on the plush carpeted floor of Hikaru's bedroom after he had carefully think about the way on how he could do it.

000

Shindou Hikaru had spent the whole morning of the next day for Sibe's sake. First, he talked to the proprietor to make sure that it was really okay for the dog to stay at the apartment. Then, he made a simple 'dog found' poster. And after that, went to photocopy the poster.

By the time he was finished, it was already 11.30 and the summer sun was already blasting at full heat. So he decided to take a lunch break and waited until the afternoon to start spreading the posters.

It was still midday when he finished his lunch and he got nothing else to do until the afternoon so he could do whatever he pleased. He considered reading the newest issue of Shounen Jump but then decided to replay yesterday's game instead. After all, now that he was a 5-dan, he would definitely face more of the higher dan opponents soon. So it was best to practice more and made sure that he was ready for it.

Sibe followed him when he entered his bedroom and sat in front of his goban, and it stared determinedly at both of the gokes that Hikaru had placed on his right side. Seeing the dog's look Hikaru could only smile.

"Interesting isn't it? This game is called Go and I think it is the coolest game in the world. I'm going to replay a game now so please don't disturb, okay Sibe?" After saying that he moved the lids from both of the gokes and returned his attention back to the goban.

The young pro had placed the first stone when the dog ran into the goke of the white stones and knocked it down so that the stones were scattered all over the floor. The dog then bit one of it. Thinking that the dog was about to eat the stone, Hikaru shouted angrily.

"Sibe, don't do that! Bad dog, bad dog!" he shouted while trying to keep the dog away from the scattered stones.

But then the unimaginable happened. Instead of chewing on the stone, the dog put it on the goban and then went to sit at the opposite side from Hikaru. The bleached blond was dumbstruck, but then a thought occurred in his mind. The smart dog was perhaps so fascinated by his action and wanted to do that itself. Sibe might think that this was some kind of a game of putting stones on a board.

He was starting to grin at the dog's silly act when he saw where exactly the dog had put the stone and his grin faded. Sibe didn't just put the stone randomly; he had actually put it on the upper-right hoshi, as if answering to the komoku position on the lower-left of the first black stone.

"Did you? No, no, no, it can't be right… A dog playing Go? That's just plain silly." Stuttered the now confused pro.

He once heard that there were Huskies that could play poker. But Go? That was just insane and if Hikaru were a logical person, he would simply drag the dog out of his room and closed the door to play in peace. But Shindou Hikaru was definitely not a logical person, or at least his logic had always been slightly different from the others. So after pondering the possibility of trying to play the dog for a few minutes, he decided to screw logic and gave it a try.

He then cleared the white stones from the floor and placed them back into the goke. After that he carefully pushed the goke to the dog's side.

"So you want to play. Let's see how good you are." Challenged the 5-dan to the dog.

Yesterday's game completely out from his thought, he quickly placed his next move and half hoped that the dog wouldn't respond. But his hope wasn't fulfilled because the dog quickly buried its snout inside the goke to pick up a stone and then placed it on the goban. It was a drool coated move but still, a real one.

Still slightly unsure, Hikaru proceeded to place his next move and the dog replied quickly, and they kept on playing until they reached the middle of the game when Hikaru suddenly paused from placing his stone. He recognized this playing style. This was Sai's Go. The dog played exactly like his old mentor. So I caould only mean that the dog was…

"S-sai?" The young man asked breathlessly.

And to his surprised and joy, the dog nodded enthusiastically. It's tail wagging happily at finally being recognized.

"Sai!!!" Shouted Hikaru with tears of joy. "You have returned! This is, this is AWESOME! I really missed you. Even 'till now I still hope that I'll see you again…"

The dog cut the young man's blabbering by jumping to his chest. And Hikaru could only shout with glee while the little pup glomped him. Loud and cheerful laughter, accompanied by happy yowl could be heard from the room for a long time.

TBC

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Author's note: I can't play Go to save my life so please excuse me if I've made some mistakes.

The Huskies that could play poker sentence is a tribute for Old Jack from 'Eight Below'. I love him so much that I cried when he died.

Next Chapter: Sai meets Akira.


	4. Sai Meets Akira

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Warning: Same as always.

flowerkid: Sorry about that, but I think it's already too late to change it. As for the temperature, I don't think it's a big problem because I own a pure breed Husky and I live in a country that is even a lot hotter than Japan. Although I must admit that my dog do prefer to stay in an air-conditioned room most of the time.

Esa Marie: Exactly! Not to mention that it'll also be too gross with all those dog's saliva. That's why Sai and Hikaru need Touya. Because he is smart enough to figure out a way to fix this problem ;-)

Liz: It's creepy how close was your idea to mine.

* * *

**Chapter IV - Sai Meets Akira**

It was already three o' clock in the afternoon when Touya Akira finally got out from the Go institute. He had won his game against Kurata, even though it wasn't an easy one. In fact, he only won by 1.5 moku. But a win was still a win, and now he was one step closer to finally rip the Meijin title from Ogata, hopefully.

Thank God that he could sleep well the night before and as the result, being able to fully concentrate on this morning's match. It seemed what Shindou said was right; the dog wouldn't be that much of a problem for him. So he guessed it would be okay to keep the dog for a while, although he would never admit it to him. And he had to admit that Sibe was a cute little dog. But then again, Siberian Husky had always been his favorite.

He remembered that when he was a child, he always dreamt to own one but his mother always told him that he could only have a pet when he was old enough to take care of it by himself. And by the time he was old enough, he had already found out about his allergy so that he had to, albeit reluctantly, accepted the fact that he could never own a furry pet. But now that the dog was already there and proven to not cause him that much harm, he could at least enjoy the dog's presence while it last, even though just from a distance.

With that thought, Akira let out a sigh. If only he didn't have an allergy, it must be fun to be able to hug and play with the dog the way Shindou did. It really wasn't fair. But then he realized how childish this thought was, and decided to stop thinking about it.

By the time he reached the train station, he had forgotten the thoughts about the dog and returned his mind's focus into Go, especially his last game. And after that his mind wandered into some possible moves that might make him won more territory on that game.

The thought only returned to him when he passed a veterinarian's clinic. Shindou's words about the vaccination entered his mind and Akira paused his steps in front of the clinic. It would surely take time to find the dog's owner and even more if Shindou had to find it a new owner, so he thought it would be wise to just take it.

With a determined step, Akira finally entered the clinic. He just hoped that it wouldn't take too long. He did have a study group that would be start in a half hour from now.

000

Akira arrived back to his apartment at 6.30 pm. He was about to unlock the door when he heard noises from the inside. So Shindou had already returned from looking for the dog's owner but who was his rival talking to? He really hoped that Shindou was simply talking on the phone or to himself and not to a guess, because right now he was too tired to talk with anyone.

He pressed his ears curiously to the door only to hear the 5-dan chuckling merrily behind the door. But he could only hear Shindou's voice, so that meant that there were no one else in there. Shaking his head slowly, Akira had almost unlocked the door when he heard a whiney shout that sounded a lot like "Saaii don't bite my hand!" from his rival.

"Sai?!" whispered Akira.

The Go prodigy unlocked the door as quickly as possible and almost pulled it out of its hinges when he opened it. But there really was no one else in the living room other that Shindou and the dog. He just stood in front of the door with a disappointed look on his face until Shindo greeted him with a wide grin.

"Welcome home!" But his grin turned into a scowl when Touya didn't reply. And he started to bombard Akira with questions. "What is wrong with you?! Could you please close the door and stop standing there with that stupid look? Why? Did you lost the game against Kurata-san?"

"NO!" answered Akira quickly while he closed the door. "I just thought that there's someone else with you but apparently I was wrong."

"And you end up looking that disappointed? But you usually dislike having a guess." Shindou asked with a confused tone. "But you're not completely wrong. Sibe is here with me."

"I mean a person, Shindou. So have you made any effort on finding its owner yet?" Asked Akira to change the topic.

He hesitantly patted Sibe's head before he took his seat on the couch but pulled his hand abruptly when the dog was trying to nuzzle it with its nose. He then seated himself as far as he could from the dog. Even after the vaccination this afternoon, he still felt a bit anxious to stay too close to the dog.

But instead of answering him, Shindou only gave a low mumble and lowered his head. From the guilty look on his rival's face, Akira could figure that he hadn't done anything yet.

"I can't hear your answer. Can you please repeat it?" Said the raven hair guy sarcastically.

"I-I haven't." Stuttered Shindou. But then he lifted his head until the both of them were eye to eye. "Hey Touya, you still remember that I've promised to tell you about Sai one day, right? Do you still want to know it?"

"Of course!" Answered Akira without hesitation. But then he lifted one of his eyebrows. "But even if you tell me, it won't make me change my mind about the dog. It won't work to side-track me with the truth about Sai."

He earned dirty looks from both Shindo and Sibe for that answer and he had to stop himself from smiling at how similar the looks were.

"At least, can you listen to me first before deciding that? I'm sure after you listen to my story, you'll want Sa… I mean Sibe to stay." Said Hikaru convincingly.

"Fine. Now are you going to tell me or not?" Asked Akira without hiding his impatience.

"Okay, okay. You can be such an impatient brat sometimes." After saying that, Shindou took a deep breath and began his tale.

000

The 5-dan had finally finished his story and right now, a rather tense silence took over the room. Shindou only waited patiently while Akira's brain was processing the information overload that it just got. It was hard to believe at first but then everything seemed to make sense. So Sai was a thousand years old ghost who taught Shindou to play Go. No wonder his rival could get very good in so short a time.

"Okay. I believe you. It's weird and I'm sure I'm going crazy but I believe you." He then looked at the dog and then at Shindou. "But I really don't see the connection between knowing the truth about Sai and keeping the dog?"

"Well, Sai is back!" His rival declared loudly. And then added with a conspirative tone, "And now he had a body, a dog's body. Yes Touya, Sibe is Sai. He's not a stray dog; he's actually here to find me. "

Hearing his rival's declaration, Akira could only blink a few times. But then he started to laugh hysterically. And now it was Shindou's turn to blink. The bleached bang pro must have thought that his poor rival had gone mad from getting too much information in the mere span of an hour, so he let Akira laughed for a few minutes. But after seeing that his rival wouldn't stop anytime soon, he started to become worry and tried to stop it.

"Touya? Oi, Touya! Please stop laughing!" He shouted, but he was ignored completely. "Look, I can prove it! I'm going to get the goban from my room now and play with Sai. You can just sit and watch. But you must already stop laughing when I'm back. Can you do that?"

After Shindou left for his room, Akira finally could stop his laughter with much coughing and wheezing. He really didn't know what had gotten him. He had never laughed like that before and it wasn't because he found Shindou's stupid lie to be funny. Perhaps he should take a visit to a psychiatrist in the near future. But then Shindou re-entered the room with the promised goban so that Akira had to stop pondering about his sanity.

His rival quickly knelt on one of the side of the goban. He then grabbed one of the gokes randomly and pushed the other one to the dog who had obediently sat itself on the opposite side.

"Now watch!" He said seriously to Akira, after removing both of the gokes' lids.

Akira decided to humor his roommate and sat himself to watch. Shindou got black, so he moved first. And after his rival placed his stone on the board, Akira turned his attention to the dog, expecting nothing would happen. But to his surprise, the dog then dug in the goke with its snout and came up with one of the white stone in between its teeth. He was utterly shocked when the dog placed its stone on the board.

"It c-can't be." Stuttered Akira, but Shindou only held out his right hand to make him stopped talking and just watched the game. So he nodded and continued to watch this bizarre game between Shindou 5-dan against a dog.

When the game nearly reached yose, they had to stop because most of the goban surface was already covered with dog's saliva and the dog started to have problem to placed the stones without ruining the position of the other stones that surrounded the point where he was going to put his. But it was already more than enough to convince Akira.

Other than Shindou, he knew Sai's Go the best. That was how he could see it in his rival's Go. And white's style in this game was definitely screaming S-A-I in bright capital letters.

"So it's true, you're Sai. Wow, this is awesome." Akira said while starring at the dog in wonder. He then added breathlessly, "Will you play me, Sai-sensei?"

The dog's solemn nod was the answer of his question. Akira was about to thank Sai when Shindou's shout of protest stopped him.

"You call him sensei? Don't you think it's too much? Even I, who's his student, never called him sensei." Protested the brash teen loudly.

"That's because I'm not an ungrateful brat like you!" Shouted Akira as loudly.

"Hmpff! Besides, I'm not going to let you use my goban. I need to wash it and its stones before all of Sai's drool stained them permanently. So use your own goban!" Replied Shindou. And he started to clear all the stones from the goban, ignoring Sai's offended glare.

Akira didn't reply him immediately, but then he said, "You're right. It's too gross and ineffective. I got an idea!" And ran into the spare room.

"Hey, where are you going?" Shouted the baffled Shindou.

Akira didn't bother to answer and busied himself searching among the unused cardboards. When he found one with the medium size, he grabbed it and returned to the living room with it. He then went to his room to get one of his black markers.

"You said that Sai-sensei used to simply tell you the position and you're the one who placed the stone, right?" Asked Akira and without waiting for Shindou's answer, he continued, "I think it better stay that way."

Akira started to draw some large circles on the cardboard surface and counted them. He then wrote numbers from one to nineteen in the first nineteenth circles and words like 'upper-left', 'lower-right', and 'tengen' on the remaining circles. When he finished, he watched his work with a proud smile.

"With this, Sai-sensei will be able to tell us where he wanted the stone to be placed and he doesn't have to placed them by himself. He can simply point with his hand… I mean paw, and one of us can place the stone for him." Akira said while showing the cardboard to Sai.

"That's genius Touya. This way, Sai can even play Internet Go again." Answered Shindou excitedly.

Sai, who was already trying his new toy, lifted his head in expectation when he heard the word 'Internet Go' and he nodded eagerly. And Akira could only smile at the Go master's eagerness while he quickly went to his room to get his own goban.

"Now, shall we try how effective it is?" He said with an expectant look thrown at his rival.

Shindou stared at his still dirty goban for a while but then nodded dejectedly and knelt himself on the opposite side of Akira. "But you'll help me wash them later."

"Sure. Now help us to nigiri." Answered Akira.

000

Sai was feeling ecstatic. He had played many games today and he knew that this was just the beginning. Akira and Hikaru were washing Hikaru's goban and Go stones right now but Akira had promised to let Sai play Internet Go on his computer after dinner. He must admit that the two young pros' skills were improving much since he left but they were still not strong enough to defeat him. Yes, he was very glad to play them, but he couldn't help wondering when he would play Touya Kouyo again.

His musings were disturbed when Hikaru and Akira came around, the first carrying the goban and the other, its gokes. The two of them were talking and predicting about what people's reactions could be when they saw that Sai, the famous Internet player, was back. But when they passed him, Akira turned his attention to him and smiled.

"Dinner will be ready soon Sensei. I'll prepare some food that will be good for your health and your fur. Trust me, I know a lot about Siberian Husky." he said, ignoring Hikaru's snort of disdain.

"This morning, you wouldn't even get near him. Now you're calling him Sensei and promise to cook him dinner? You're such a hypocrite, Touya. You never even cooked for me." Said Hikaru while balancing the goban in his hands.

"You have hands so can make your own food. He can't."

They continued their bickering as they entered Hikaru's room. And Sai only stared at the two young professionals disappearing backs with a mix of exasperation and joy. It was really good to be back and he hoped that he could stay this time. But then he remembered the real purpose of why he was back and made a decision in his heart.

He would do everything to keep Hikaru safe, even if he had to sacrifice this newly found life. After all, that was why he was here, right? He would never be able to forgive himself if anything happened to Hikaru and he was unable to stop it.

TBC

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Duh, it's getting longer and longer with each chapter. I hope the quality isn't getting worse though.

Next Chapter: The Dog VS The Ex-Meijin.


	5. The Dog VS The ExMeijin

Disclaimer & Warning: Same as always.

* * *

**Chapter V - The Dog VS The Ex-Meijin**

As they had predicted, the Go world was in an uproar by Sai's return. Many people, both pros and amateurs were in line to play the great Internet player. Unlike last time, now Sai only appeared at night and in the weekend or Sunday, because Hikaru and Akira were busy with their careers as Go pro during working days.

The two teens had to sacrifice their sleeping time for that. At fisrt, Hikaru insisted that he could handle it by himself. But after lacking sleep four days in a row, he finally admitted defeat and asked for Akira's help. Akira, being eager to learn more from Sai, agreed to help without any persuasion. So now, the two young pros took turn every night.

And true to his words, Akira took a good care of Sai. The teen refused to simply feed him with dog food and insisted to buy fresh ingredients and prepared the food by himself. He also bought many kinds of vitamins for Sai. Hikaru got the duty of washing Sai once every two days. Sai knew that the extra work made the young men tired but not even Hikaru ever complained about it and for that the Go master was very grateful.

Sai was so filled with joy every time he played that after finishing his games, especially a really good one, he would run around the room, yowling with joy. Akira was shocked the first time he saw that but it didn't seem to have the same effect on Hikaru, who simply shrugged and said that Sai was already like that even when he was still a ghost.

To say that he was happy was probably an underestimation. He really missed playing Go when he was in heaven and now he could play many good Go players both from Japan or other countries. Although he must admit that he hadn't played the one that he wanted to play the most. But hopefully he would play him very soon, now that said person was back in Japan. In fact, right now Akira was not at home because he had to wait on the airport for his parents that would arrive today from China.

Before he left this morning, Akira had promised to inform his father that Sai was back on the net and wanted to play the Ex-Meijin again. And just thinking about having a rematch with him made Sai's body tingled with anticipation.

But then his daydreaming was interrupted abruptly by Waya's loud voice. Today was Sunday and some of Hikaru's pro friends usually came to play every Sunday morning. But today there were only Waya and Isumi. And right now, they had finished playing and discussing about Sai instead.

"Yeah, he totally creamed Ochi last night that I'm sure the midget must have stayed in his toilet for hours after the game!" Said Waya gleefully. "I mean he ask for it. Even Ogata-san couldn't beat Sai, so what makes he thinks that he can."

Isumi only listened quietly while sipping on his soda, but Hikaru looked a bit uncomfortable. He was still felt a bit wary every time someone talked about Sai around him, afraid that they might be suspicious that he knew Sai or worse, that he was Sai. So he decided to change the subject.

"You know, Touya-sensei return to Japan today. That's why Touya's not home. He is waiting at the airport with Ogata-sensei and Ashiwara-san right now." He said out of the blue.

Both Waya and Isumi looked confused for a while but then the older pro decided to just accept this abrupt change of subject, knowing his host seeming discomfort at the previous subject.

"Yes, I've heard about that. They said that he just partook in another big competition there and now he's returning to Japan to have some rest." Answered Isumi.

But Waya didn't seem to get it and after getting out of his confusion, said, "I wonder if he and Sai will have a rematch. You guys still remember their game a few years ago right? Man, that was an awesome battle between two Go masters."

Hikaru answered him with a frustrated sigh and Isumi simply rolled his eyes at the red hair denseness. He then decided to take a pity at Hikaru and attempted to change the subject once again.

"It's a wonder that you respect Touya-sensei but dislike his son so much." Said Isumi with a small smile.

"That's because Touya is an arrogant brat who thinks that he's above everyone else just because he's Touya-sensei's son." Answered Waya while petting Sai's head.

Hikaru was about to protest when he heard Waya's answer but Sai had been quicker than him. The Husky bit Waya's right hand, which had been petting his head. It wasn't anything serious but enough to cause red bite marks on the teen's hand and made him yelped in pain.

"Your dog is crazy Shindou! It just bit me without any reason!" Shouted Waya. He then moved as far away as possible from Sai.

"Well, you shouldn't have insulted Touya in front of the dog. After all, he is the one who feed Sibe." Answered Hikaru with a mocking smile.

"I thought he's allergic to furry pets? I can still remember a half-dead Touya from the time when he had to take medication for allergy just because he stood too near with your friend's cat. Isumi-san even managed to beat him by 4.5 moku back then." Said Waya, his mood lightened a bit by the memory of Touya's defeat to Isumi.

"A win that I'm not very proud of." Interrupted Isumi. "I want to defeat Touya-kun, but not when he was like that. The poor guy could barely see straight during that game."

"Well he had taken a vaccination and I always keep Sibe clean." Answered Hikaru, ignoring Isumi's interruption. "And Touya actually likes Siberian Husky, so he didn't mind feeding Sibe. He wasn't too happy at first but now he's fine with it."

"I can imagine his displeasure. It was rather irresponsible for you to buy a dog and bring it home without consulting to him first just because you think that you deserve a gift for your promotion." Admonished Isumi.

Hikaru could only grin to that. He told his friends that he just bought Sibe on his way home from the Sushi restaurant. He thought that the real story was a bit weird and Touya agreed with him. So they decided on this story instead.

"Anyway, as I said. I really wonder if Touya-sensei will have a rematch with Sai. I mean, I'm sure it will be a great game…" Blabbered Waya. Spectacularly ruining his friends' attempt to change the topic.

Hikaru put his face in his hands in a defeated stance and Isumi could only sweat dropped. Sometimes, Waya could be so insistent.

000

Akira's situation wasn't much better from Hikaru. He had already been sitting for an hour on one of the airport seats and Ogata-san, who was sitting next to him, couldn't stop talking about Sai. Fortunately, Ashiwara didn't seem to be that interested on the topic and chose to read this morning's newspaper instead.

"Are you sure Shindou-kun never mention anything about Sai to you, Akira?" Ogata asked with suspicion in his eyes.

"I've told you many times, Ogata-san. He knows nothing more about Sai than you, me, or Ashiwara-san." Akira answered with a convincing smile, hoping that the smart guy won't be able to see behind his lie.

"But I'm so sure that he at least has some connection to Sai!" Hissed Ogata.

"Stop pestering Akira, Ogata-san. Even if it's true that Shindou-kun has any connection to say, he won't tell Akira about it." Said Ashiwara while eyeing the newspaper in his hands with distaste.

"I guess you're right, that brat won't…" Answered Ogata but then stopped in mid sentence when he saw the look on Ashiwara's face. "And why are you starring at the newspaper like that?"

"Ah, nothing. I'm just concerned by the lack of good news on the paper lately. I mean, it's the Sunday paper but look at these news: A building was destroyed by fire in Fukuoka, a robbery in Osaka, and yesterday, a Tokyo mental institution patient ran away. This country is getting more and more dangerous every day." Mused Ashiwara.

Ogata and Akira could only stare at the 8-dan. Sometimes, Akira worried that his friend cared too much about so many things; perhaps that was why he couldn't have a maximum result on his Go. And at times like this, Akira was very grateful with his own one mindedness for Go. He continued his musing for a few minutes until the speaker above their head announced the arrival of his parents' plane.

"That's their flight number. Let's go!" Ordered Ogata to his two companions. And all of their previous conversations were instantly ceased.

000

The road was not too crowded and they made it to the Touya residence in no time. Both of Akira's parents looked slightly tired but content, especially his father, and Akira couldn't help but felt grateful to Sai, who was more or less the cause of his father's early retirement.

Ogata and Ashiwara had left; and both he and his father were sitting in their playing room when Akira finally dared to speak about Sai to the older man. He tried to choose his words carefully, not sure how to start the conversation

"Father, do you remember an internet player called 'Sai'? You've played him once when you were hospitalized five years ago." Said Akira, his eyes watching his father's face, looking for any emotion.

He knew very well that his father remembered about Sai. In fact, he was sure that the retired pro was still waiting for Sai to return after all these years. He could still clearly remember the night when he saw his father sitting in front of the goban, with only one stone on it. Waiting for a non-existent opponent. When his father only nodded, Akira continued.

"Well, he's back now on the net. And he really wants to play you again."

"Did Shindou-kun ask you to pass this request?" Asked his father knowingly.

"Yes, father. He has finally told me that he knew Sai." Answered Akira.

"And why he doesn't come here himself to ask me like the last time?"

"He's afraid of Ogata-san. He has suspected that Shindou has connection with Sai." Akira couldn't help smiling at this. His rival had vehemently refused to come when he told him that Ogata-san would also be there.

"Does Shindou-kun tell you why Sai had disappeared all this time?"

"He just said that Sai really had to leave back then. But he didn't tell me why or where did he go. So are you going to accept father?" Akira knew that it wasn't polite of him to ask so abruptly like that but this questions were starting to make him felt uncomfortable.

The Ex-Meijin stayed quiet for a few minutes but then he finally gave his answer.

"Yes. I return to Japan because I want to rest and I still don't like the way this 'Sai' hide his true identity but I also have to admit that I really want to have a rematch with him."

"Thank you father." Akira said with a small bow. "Will you be able to do it next Sunday?"

Once again, his father only nodded. Akira bowed once again before excusing himself out of the room to help his mother preparing dinner in the kitchen. After his son left the room, Touya Kouyo only sat and stared at his goban until his wife called him for dinner.

000

"So what did he said? Did he agree?" Asked Shindou the moment Akira opened the apartment door. As an answer, Akira only smiled and gave a thumb up.

"Great!" Shouted his rival. "You hear that Sai? You can finally play Touya-sensei again!"

Sai almost never barked but in his joy, he actually barked a few times as he ran around the room until he got tired.

"We'll do it next Sunday, at 2 p.m. I'll let him use my notebook because he doesn't have one. So I will stay with him during the game. Are you sure, you can handle this by yourself?"

"Of course. It's not as if this is the first time I'm going to help Sai play him on the net. It went perfectly fine the first time." Answered Shindou with indignation.

"Good. Everything's set then. Let's just hope that no one will get suspicious after that." Replied Akira.

This was rather risky, but the match would be good for both his father and Sai-sensei and he was definitely willing to take a little risk to watch the two Go masters battled each other again.

000

The day of the game had finally come and Akira had left his apartment an hour ago. But it was still half an hour until the promised time. Hikaru looked both anxious and excited already. And the teen couldn't stop pacing the room and checking the clock once every five minutes.

Hikaru's feelings were nothing compared to Sai's though. His heart beat so loud and fast from anticipation and worry. And he had to stop himself a few times from chewing on Akira's slippers.

The anticipation that he felt was so great that he was sure that he would blabber excitedly if he could speak. But the worry was also there. He wasn't afraid to loose. With Go, a good game mattered more than winning or loosing. But he did afraid that the Ex-Meijin had gotten so much better during his absence that he no longer a match for the elder Touya.

He tried to squash it with the thought that he wasn't that out of practice himself. The last few weeks, he had played and beaten many professional Go players, including some titleholders like Ogata and Ichiryu. Besides, Hikaru had shown him many kifu of Touya Kouyo's games in China and he was sure that the two of them were still on the same level.

At times like this, he really wished that he could talk. At least, he would be able to speak what was on his mind to Hikaru. He was so engrossed in his self-pity that he could barely hear Hikaru's voice.

"…ai, Sai? Oi, Sai!" When he finally got Sai's attention, Hikaru continued, "It's time. I'm going to turn on the computer now. Are you ready?"

Sai nodded to the question and with his teeth, he moved the cardboard closer to the computer table while Hikaru turned the computer on and logged in to NetGo.

"Ah, Touya-sensei is already here. Let's play!" Shouted Hikaru from his seat.

'Here we go.' Thought Sai.

000

It was a beautiful game of attack and defense, and the two of them didn't make any mistakes. Touya Kouyo played amazingly and he had improved a lot since their last game. Now his playing style was a lot bolder and more creative. But Sai had his own practice himself and played brilliantly like he always did.

The territory difference between both players was almost equal and no one could predict who would win. One minute Sai was leading and the next it was Touya-sensei, and it kept going like that until the end of the game.

By the time the game was finished, Hikaru's palm was wet with perspiration and he felt so tired as if he was the one who just played the game. He could hear the phone ringing but made no move to pick it up.

Sai had won and Touya Kouyo had resigned from the game, but anyone who had watched the game would now how equal the two players skills were. The game was awesome and Hikaru felt a bit envious at the both players to be able to play a game at such a high level but he also felt happy for them. He was sure that if they kept on playing like that, one day they would reach the fabled Hand of God.

"Great game, Sai!" But the dog only stayed still and watched the monitor quietly.

From the look of it, he was sure that Sai was overwhelmed by emotion right now. And if he was still a ghost he would have cried like a baby but he couldn't, not in a dog's form. Hikaru couldn't help but felt sorry for Sai. His former mentor was a very emotional and expressive person so it must had been difficult for him being unable to speak or cry anymore. But at least he was sure that Sai must felt very happy for his win today.

000

The game had finally finished and even though, as usual, his father didn't show much outward emotion, Akira was sure that he was pleased with the game. The younger man could have sworn that he had seen a thin smile graced his face when he finally resigned.

For people who didn't understand it might seem weird to feel pleased after you had lost but he understood the feeling. For a person who was so used to winning, it was really a grace to finally found someone who was your equal, who could beat you fairly, and who could pushed you to move forward.

He was about to asked if his father wanted to discuss the game with him when his cell phone suddenly rang. And when he saw the name on the screen, he almost cursed. It was Ogata-san. He hurriedly excused himself from the room to answer the phone.

"Moshi moshi." He was trying to speak as casually as he could.

"Akira-kun, where are you? I called to your apartment but no one picks up." Came the reply.

"Sorry, I'm in my parents house right now and Shindou goes out with his high school friends so there's no one there." Lied Akira. He had always scorned Shindou for his tendency to ignore the ringing phone but now he was glad for it.

"You're with Touya-sensei? So you saw his game with Sai?"

"Of course. In fact, it was because of me that father could play Sai. I've decided to bring my laptop because I know that Sai usually plays on Sunday. I think there's nothing wrong with trying, I'm sure father would want to play Sai again." Answered Akira, thankful that he was careful enough to log in fifteen minutes before the supposed time so people wouldn't be suspicious that the game was already scheduled.

"So you mean that it was only by chance that Touya-sensei played Sai again?" Asked Ogata suspiciously.

"Yes. I mean we're actually waiting for him, but we're not sure if Sai will appear or not."

"I see. Do you know where Shindou-kun and his friends go?" It seemed that Ogata wasn't ready to give up.

"I'm not his mother, Ogata-san. I never bother to ask where he goes." At least it wasn't a lie. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to discuss the game with my father."

And without waiting for the reply, Akira hung up the phone. 'Wow, that was close' He thought as he re-entered the room.

TBC

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That was a long and painful chapter but it finally finished. Thanks for everyone who had left a review.

I'm not giving the title of the next chapter this time, but I've left a clue in this chapter about what will happen. And no, it has nothing to do with Ogata…


	6. The Enemy of My Father

Disclaimer & Warning: Same as always.

Sorry for the late update. I was busy last week and to be honest I'm feeling rather bored and uninspired these days.

* * *

**Chapter VI – The Enemy of My Father**

The heavily cloaked man had been watching the teen for almost two weeks and right now he already knew more or less the young pro's daily habits and schedule. Now, all he had to do was wait and when he got the chance, he would move to the attack. It would be the perfect revenge. With this, he would destroy the guy who had destroyed his biggest dream.

He would kidnap the teen and asked for a very large amount of money as the ransom. That way, Shindou Masao would have to do something illegal to get the money and that would surely ruin his reputation. And if Shindou decided to call the police or ignore his demand, he could simply kill his son and left the boy's body to rot in a place where no one would be able to find.

The man scratched his beard in satisfaction. There could be no better plan than this. If everything went well, he would become a rich man after this was over. But if it didn't, he would still at least get the satisfaction of finally having his revenge. It was a win-win solution for him and a lose-lose one for Shindou.

He was very ecstatic when he found out that Shindou's son didn't go to Australia with his parents and chose to stay in Japan instead. That made it easier for him to execute his plan and made all those waiting that he had to endure in the mental institution worth it.

He had decided that today was the day and he would get into action. But he had to make sure that the brat was alone when he acted. Right now, he was waiting across the apartment building, watching a young man, that he recognized as Shindou's roommate, leaving with a dog on his tow.

'This is it!' He thought. 'This will be the perfect time.'

All he needed now was luck. He would be able to enter the building when someone went out of it. But if no one got out in twenty minutes, he would need to go for plan B. That was disguised himself as a courier and pushed the bell, so that someone would open the door for him. It would be more risky though, and he wouldn't use that plan unless he was really sure that plan A was botched.

After waiting for ten minutes, Lady Luck seemed to finally take side with him. He could see an old man was about to leave the building. So, he quickly got out of his van and crossed the small street. He made it to the front door just on time before it clicked shut.

000

Shindou Hikaru was washing the dishes so hurriedly that it was a wonder that none of the plates was broken. He had a study session that would begin in another fifteen minutes and the ride to Morishita-sensei's house usually took about twenty minutes, so by the rate that he was going right now, he would arrive there at least ten minutes late. He guessed, he would have to take a cab if he didn't want to arrive even later.

They didn't usually have a study session on Monday morning but Waya called him yesterday night, not long after the game between Sai and Touya Kouyo was finished, saying that Mosrishita-sensei insisted on having this special study session to discuss about that unexpected game. It seemed that everyone had already knew about the game and most of them were discussing it last night. The thought made him cringe and he hoped that no one would suspect that the game was scheduled.

He was lucky though; that Touya happened to be a master of deceives. His rival told him about the call from Ogata-sensei and the lies that he made to convince the current Meijin that it was only a fluke that his father could play Sai again. Touya also suggested that they instead used a chat room that had nothing to do with Go, next time.

"_We could simply exchange the moves on it and played the game on real Go-ban."_ Said the raven-haired pro during last night dinner.

And Hikaru agreed with his idea. In fact he found that to be a brilliant idea although he would never admit it to Touya. It would be more complicated but a lot safer. That way, they could play without the fear of getting the other pros curiosity, especially the nosy ones like Ogata-sensei.

He finally finished washing the last plate and quickly turned off the water. He rarely had this duty because usually Touya wouldn't let him and Hikaru was very grateful for that even though he had always angrily retorted that he wouldn't drop any of his precious plates. It was really a nice thing to have a neat freak of a roommate like Touya. Because he never trusted other people enough and preferred to do everything by himself. So even though he often complained that he had let Hikaru shared the apartment so he would help him doing his chores, he never insisted on it. In fact, the 5-dan was sure that, most of the times; his rival clearly preferred that he stayed away from the kitchen.

But right now, Touya was visiting the vet to give Sai a shot of rabies vaccination, so Hikaru had to do the chores. The 7-dan didn't have anything to do until late in the afternoon and it was a rare occasion so he decided to do it today. He insisted that the vaccination was very important to all kinds of dogs, including Huskies. And yes, also including a Husky with the spirit of a thousand years old Go master in it.

He was about to go to his room to change his clothes when he heard the doorbell rang. With a whispered curse, he checked the clock and then went to open the front door. What kind of freak would visit at 8:53 in the morning?

'And that freak had to come when I was already late.' He thought bitterly while walking hurriedly to the door.

But when he passed the coffee table, he halted his steps suddenly. There, lying innocently on the table, was Touya's wallet.

"Ack! Stupid Touya forgot to bring his equally stupid wallet. Now I'll have to run after him before getting a cab. Morishita-sensei will surely kill me." Shouted, the already panicked, Hikaru.

It wasn't like his rival to forget bringing something as important as a wallet. Touya usually checked all his stuffs twice before he left the apartment. But perhaps today he was too distracted by Sai to do such ritual. The Go master was so excited to be able to go out again that he got a little too hyper. And poor Touya had to calm him down every few minutes.

Hikaru was still lost in the memory of his rival's hectic departure this morning when he opened the door. But when he realized that he didn't recognize the guy that stood before him, he started to frown.

"Hmm... Anything I can help you with?" Greeted Hikaru half-heartedly.

"Are you Shindou Hikaru, Shindou Masao's son? Asked the rumpled guy with an accusing tone.

"Yes, but if you want to speak with my father, I regrettably have inform you that he had already moved out to Australia." Answered Hikaru, trying to end the conversation without sounding too rude.

"I know. It's you who I'm looking for…"

Somehow, Hikaru has a bad feeling about this situation. And his feelings were rarely wrong. It seemed it had enhanced greatly ever since the experience of being haunted by Sai. And right now, he could almost smell the tenseness in the air.

"Look. I'm sorry but I really have to go now. I'm already late for an appointment. So can you return later?"

He only received a small shake of the head and a maniacal grin from the guy as an answer. The 5-dan was about to slam the door shut when the bearded man halted him. And the last thing that he saw before everything went dark was the man's gloved fist heading into his face.

000

"Good job, Ken." The man said to himself as he carefully tied the unconscious body with a rope. "Not even a fight from looser. I guess I can't blame him though. As they said, like father, like son."

After he was sure that the teen's body was tied well, he opened the door to check if there was someone on the hallway. And when he saw no one there, he started to drag the body as carefully and as noiselessly as possible. It wasn't an easy task but he was grateful when he finally reached the emergency stairs without gotten caught by anyone.

Unlike when he arrived, now he had to use the stairs instead of the elevator. And it would take quite some time until he could reach to bottom floor. Grudgingly, he started the long way down, dragging the teen's by the shirt's collar.

When he arrived at the bottom, he finally allowed his body to get the much-needed rest. He no longer young and the boy's body were rather heavy. But he felt a lot better after taking revenge by dropping it to the floor and hearing a satisfying 'thud' when the bond bangs' head hit the hard floor.

Now, he needed to drag the body into his van. Luckily, he parked it right across the apartment building. He lazily took the heavy lump again and started to drag it out of the building.

"Here comes nothing." He said with a small smile as he opened the building's front door.

000

Touya Akira was already standing in front of the ticket machine when he realized that he had left his wallet back at the apartment. His first thought when he couldn't find said wallet in his coat pocket was that he had been robbed. But then he realized that he didn't remember ever taking it from the coffee table before he left.

"Ugh! We have to return, Sensei. I forgot to bring my wallet." He said to the dog that had been watching him with curiosity.

Two middle-aged women looked at him weirdly as they passed by. And Akira could only lower his head embarrassedly. He must have looked like a weirdo, talking to a dog and calling it 'Sensei'. So he turned away from them and quickly went back to the stairs.

Once returned to the street, he considered to just give a call and asked Shindou to bring it when he himself went to the station. But when he checked his watch, he realized that his rival must have taken a taxi instead. Shindou was supposed to arrive at Morishita-sensei's house at nine o'clock and right now was already 8:50. So if the 5-dan was going to take the train, he should have already arrived at the station right now.

So after cursing at his own carelessness and apologizing to Sai for a few times for the inconvenience, Akira finally started to walk back to the apartment, doomed for another long ten minutes of walking.

By the time he reached the street not far from the apartment building, his dress shirt was already wet from sweat and he was in the middle of pondering either to change it or not when Sai let out a sound that sounded like a combination of a bark and a howl at one of the cars that were parked across the apartment building.

When Akira lifted his head, he could see a guy pulling an unconscious body into a red van. The man was almost done and he could only see a glimpse of the victim's head but he could recognize Shindou's bleached bangs anywhere.

But then, he made a mistake by shouting at the man to stop. His shout only succeeded in making the man hurriedly closed the van's door. And when he started to run to the van, Shindou's kidnapper already started the engine and took of before he could reach it.

Realizing that he got not chance to stop the man, Akira stopped running and quickly took out his pen from his chest pocket to write down the van's plate numbers on his palm. That was not the case with Sai though. He ignored Akira's shouts to return and gave chase to the van. And for a few confusing minutes the raven-haired teen could only watch helplessly as both the red van and the Go master quickly disappeared from his sight. But then his mind started to work again, and he hurriedly took out his cell phone and called the police.

000

Sai ran as fast as he could to make sure that he wouldn't loose sight of Hikaru's kidnapper. The moment he saw it, he knew that this was the reason why he was back. He had to save Hikaru from that guy and he had a feeling that if he failed, something really bad would happen to his ex-pupil. And with that thought in mind, he became more determined on chasing the red van. Not even God could stop him now. He would save Hikaru or die trying.

TBC

* * *

Author's note: I don't know if dogs are allowed inside the train so I'm sorry if they don't. I know that guide dogs are allowed though.

This chapter is inspired by the numerous children abductions for ransom that happened in my town lately.


	7. Sai To The Rescue

Disclaimer & Warning: Same as always.

Author's note: I blame the lateness on too much work now. But it's a very long chapter, so I hope it'll make up for the late update.

hittocerebattosai: Yes and it's getting worse lately. But most of the victims are kids and of course the kidnappers aren't insane.

* * *

**Chapter VII – Sai To The Rescue**

The guy was cursing over and over again along the road that he barely took notice of the street before him. He had made a grave mistake. Shindou's friend shouldn't catch him in his act. That girly-haired teen must have called the police as soon as he could. And sooner or later the police would be able to identify him as the kidnapper. It would ruin his carefully made plan. Now, he would have to move faster and made sure that he wouldn't make any more mistakes.

What he didn't know was that another flaw in his plan was chasing after his van. But if he did notice, he would recognize it as the black and white Siberian Husky that went out with the other teen earlier this morning. And he wouldn't be pleased to know that the dog hadn't given up on following his van yet, and probably ever.

But as it was, he never noticed the dog. Not even until his van was safely entering the garage of the small suburb house that he used as his hideout. And the dog had already hid itself behind the bushes when he got out of the garage to survey the surrounding area around the house.

000

The police promised to act as fast as they could after receiving the abduction report but Akira couldn't help but feel that they didn't work fast enough. They had said that they would inform him as soon as they were able to acquire some information on the case. But four hours had passed and they still hadn't call yet. Akira really didn't understand what took them so long. He had been very helpful by also giving them the van's description plus its plate number so it supposed to be easy for them to at least find out who the kidnapper was.

He had contacted Morishita-sensei about what happened, secretly hoping that Shindou was there and the person that he saw being abducted wasn't him but the hope proved to be false because once the 9-dan heard Shindou's name, he started yelling about the importance of punctuality. And Akira had to convince him a few times that he wasn't lying or joking before he finally believed that Shindou couldn't come because he was being kidnapped by some lunatic.

The man's reaction once the information sunk in would make Akira laughed if he wasn't too caught up in his own anxiousness about Shindou's well being. He never thought that Morishita Shigeo 9-dan would scream like an old lady when he was shocked. And despite his own worry, he tried his best to calm the man down by saying that he was sure that everything would be all right and told the older man not to tell anyone else about it.

The police forbade him on informing the Go institute or Shindou's friends about it because they didn't want too many people to know about the abduction. And after the traumatic experience of facing a hysteric Morishita-sensei, he decided against informing Shindou's parents and grandparents. He really didn't know how to inform the news without causing them heart attack. Besides, the police might already done that.

Akira was in the middle of pondering to call the police again when the phone suddenly rang. And he approached it with such an impressive speed that he nearly tripped over his own feet in his haste.

"Moshi-moshi, Touya Akira speaking." He answered quickly.

"Touya-san. This is Detective Akeda from the Tokyo police department. I'm calling to give you the news on the latest progress regarding your report on the abduction of Shindou Hikaru."

"Yes. How is it going?" Asked Akira impatiently. These guys surely had a talent of prolonging a talk.

"We had investigated the van. A guy named Tanaka Ken rented it. He has an apartment here in Tokyo but when we sent people there, his landlord told us that Tanaka-san hadn't return for about six months now. It seemed that he had been committed to a mental institution six months ago." Continued the Detective.

"So how come he could end up roaming the street again and kidnapping people?"

"Well, he escaped around three weeks ago. It seemed that there are a lot of cases of runaway mental institution patients lately. But you don't need to worry, right now we're doing our best in locating this man." Answered the guy, ready to finish the conversation.

"But I don't get it. What relation that this guy has with Shindou? I don't remember Shindou ever mentioning his name before."

"With Shindou Hikaru no. But after further investigation we had found out that Tanaka-san and Shindou Masao were working in the same company. So, there is a possibility that he might hold a grudge to Shindou-san. Even though when we asked Shindou-san about Tanaka-san, he said that he didn't even know the guy that well so he couldn't have done anything to make him upset or angry."

"Okay, thanks for the information. Perhaps I can help with the investigation or whatever?"

"Trust me, there's nothing more you can do to help. All you have to do now, Touya-san is pray and wait for the police to do their job. And don't do anything stupid; we really don't need another missing person. And now, if you will excuse me, I got a lot of work. Goodbye Touya-san."

Akira was about to say thanks once again but Detective Akeda had hung up the telephone without waiting for his reply. And he could only curse on the man's impoliteness. He really hoped that he could help in the investigation. At least he wouldn't feel as helpless as he was right now, if he could do that. If only he knew where to look.

000

The first thing that Hikaru felt when he awoke was the terrible pain on his nose and head. After awhile he also realized that his back was hurt and thick ropes tied up both his arms and legs. It took a few minutes before everything that had happened returned to his muddled mind. After that realization, he quickly opened his eyes but then regretted it because his still sensitive sight was harshly exposed to the bright neon light that was the only light source in the room that he currently occupied.

With a whispered curse, he closed his eyes again and made sure to move his head position to the side before he dared to open them again. After some times, he could finally see clearly enough and started to look at his surroundings. He found out that the cause of his sore back was because he was lying on the cold floor of a small and empty room. He also noted bitterly that it was windowless. He guessed that it must be a storeroom or something similar. Somehow the air is very tight in this room and it was hard for him to breathe.

He was interrupted from studying the room when the door was suddenly opened, permitting brighter light from the outside to enter the room. His eyes couldn't stand the brightness so he had to close it but he could feel and hear someone got nearer.

"You're awake. Good, because I need you to make a phone call to your father for me." He said flatly.

Hikaru could recognize from the voice as that it was the same guy who had punched him earlier. And with some effort he finally succeeded in opening his eyes to look at the face above him.

"Why? What do you want from him? My father is not a millionaire or an important guy. You kidnap the wrong person." That was true. In fact, if the guy didn't address him by name the first time, Hikaru might think that he actually wanted to kidnap Touya instead.

"I know that. I do this for revenge. Your father had robbed me of my right. The position of the Australian Branch Director should have been mine! And it was me who should have been sent to Australia, not him. But being the sneaky hypocrite that he is, your father had managed to steal it for himself. That looser!" Answered the guy heatedly.

Hikaru almost retorted by saying that he was the one who didn't get the job so he was the looser but then his common sense kicked in and he managed to stop himself. It wouldn't do him any good by adding insult to this crazy man's injury. He seemed to act wisely because the man had gradually calmed down after getting no response from him.

"So now why don't you be a good kid and tell me your parents phone number in Australia. And if they give me what I want, I will free you. Isn't that what you want?" Said the man while producing a portable phone from his coat pocket.

"I don't trust you. You won't let me see your face if you're planning to release me. Besides, I don't call them often enough to know the number by heart." Challenged Hikaru.

"I see that you've read too many detective stories. But I guess you have a point there. I don't need to hide my identity because your father knows who I am and I definitely don't plan to stay in Japan after all of these are done. So I don't see the necessity in hiding behind a mask." Answered the man with the tone of a kindergarten teacher who's teaching his student a 1+12 problem. But then he continued impatiently. "Now, give me the numbers. And you better not lie."

The 5-dan started to feel panic. He wasn't lying that he never bothers to try to memorize his parents' number. Why should he when he could always check it on the laminated paper filled with important numbers that Touya placed beside the telephone set? But now he really regretted his lack of attention. Luckily, he still had a vague memory of it because he had seen it so often whenever he was using the phone or simply sitting next to it.

His first attempt only resulted in failure though and he had to pay it by receiving a kick on the stomach, accompanied by the man's angry words of "I've told you not to lie."

Thankfully his second attempt was successful and when the person at the other end of the line picked up the phone, the man seemed to recognize his/her voice and started to grin maniacally. Hikaru concluded that it must be his father who picked up the phone and he silently thanking the gods.

"Shindou Masao… Still remember me? No? I've guessed you won't. You're too cocky to remember an ex-colleague right? Well, guess what? Old Ken is back and he has your son with him. Want to say hi to Hikaru?" And with that, he waved the phone near Hikaru's head and at the same time, kicking him again so that his father could hear his groan of pain.

With a wicked smile, the man, that Hikaru now knew was named Ken, returned the phone to his ear. The eighteen years old pro could only hear his father angry shouts from the other end of the line but he couldn't hear what was said.

"You don't like it, don't you? Well, if you want that precious son of yours to return alive you better give me what I want, Shindou. And what I want is 500,000 Australian dollars. What do you say?"

It seemed that his father didn't reacted the way the guy wanted though, because after awhile his face started to become sour and he released a stream of angry shouts. "What do you mean, you're not going to pay?! I got your son you bastard! And if my demand is not met, I will leave him to die. Do you hear me?!"

His father said something else and it made the guy even angrier. "Hah, the police! We'll see if they will be able to find your son before his dead body is already weeks old. This is your last chance, Shindou. Pay it with money or your son's life?" When the guy heard the answer, he only smiled bitterly and said, "So be it", then hung up the phone.

And looking at his furious face, Hikaru could guess what his father's answer was. All of the sudden a mix feelings of dread and anger filled his guts. He couldn't believe it; his father had blatantly refused to pay his ransom. He knew that their relationship wasn't that close and that his father didn't have that much money, but he was hoping that the older man would at least play along while finding a way to save him.

He was trying to not fall into desperation and hoping that his father had some secret plan under his sleeve, when his kidnapper started to speak.

"So, this is it." He said with finality. "Your damn father think that the police will catch me soon and had refused to pay your ransom. And I always keep my promise. Goodbye Shindou-kun, I'll leave you to your slow death now. Don't worry. It won't take too long. In a few more hours you'll die from the lack of air. I'm sorry that you have to die with the knowledge that your father don't love you much." And with those last words, he turned around to leave the room.

"Hey wait!" Shouted Hikaru "You've heard yourself that he doesn't care for me. So what's the use of killing me? You want to hurt him, right? But how can…"

He couldn't finish his tirade of desperate words because the door was already closed. The man had left and with him, went also his last chance of salvation. But his brain refused to accept that this was the end and he started struggling to move to the door. But it was a fruitless attempt and after a few more tries, he finally admitted defeat.

So, this is how my life going to end, a slow and lonely death. No one, not even Sai, could help him. Hell, they might never found his body until it decayed and became unrecognizable.

"What a nice fate." He said sarcastically.

000

Sai was feeling frustrated now. He had spent more than an hour to find a way so he could enter the building. But every way in seemed to be either closed or too high for him to reach. But he didn't give up searching because he had no time to waste. The guy could decide to kill Hikaru anytime so he must act quickly.

He was about to run in the direction of the backyard when he heard the sound of the front door opened. And with the quick reflex of a Siberian Husky, he ran to the direction of the sound, only to find out that Hikaru's kidnapper was leaving. He saw the man opened his garage door and disappeared behind it. Not long after that, a black motorcycle went out of the garage with high speed.

'He leaves? Why? Is that mean that Hikaru… No, that's not possible.' He decided that he had to be optimistic. But, there was really no way in, so he would have to think on another way rather than trying to get into the building by himself. That was when he remembered that a week ago Akira had wore him a dog collar with an identification tag on it so if he ever got lost, people who found him would be able to call their apartment to inform Hikaru about his dog whereabouts.

Hope returned to Sai, he had a plan now and to make sure that it would work, all he had to do was finding the right person. With that thought, he began to run in the direction of the nearest house, which was about more than one kilometer away.

He had to spy on the house to make sure that the house owner was nice enough for his plan. He couldn't risk meeting people who would want to keep him for themselves. And when an old lady finally got out of the house, he pondered on his chances for a while before deciding that she was save enough and running out from his hiding place.

At first, she was scared of him because she had mistaken him for a wolf. But when she saw his collar and that he didn't show any intention to attack her, her composure relaxed and she even got enough courage to come nearer to him.

"Are you lost, little dog? Where's your master? Come here, let me see your tag and we'll see what I can do for you." She said soothingly.

Sai decided to do what she asked and walked slowly to her. When he was within arm reach, the lady carefully petted his head and moved to check his tag. She smiled widely when she saw that there was a number to call on it.

"Your name is Sibe, right? You're lucky that your master is a very careful person. Come, let me write down that phone number so then I can call them." She said while beckoning Sai to follow her into the back door of the house. And Sai happily complied.

000

Akira was about to have dinner when the phone rang again. Thinking that it was the police, he hurriedly ran to pick it up. But the voice that greeted him was a woman's voice and definitely not the Detective from earlier.

"Shindou Hikaru-san?" The woman asked.

"No, this is his roommate, Touya Akira. Shindou-san is unavailable right now. Who is this? Do you want to leave a message, ma'am?" Answered Akira politely, trying hard to hide his disappointment.

"Ah yes, my name is Fujita Yumi. I've found a dog on my front yard. It has black and white colors. The dog seems to be lost and I found this number and Shindou-san's name from its tag." Said the lady.

"Sa… I mean Sibe? Yes, he was missing this morning. Where are you, ma'am? Can you give me your address?" Akira's heart started to pound hard with this information.

"Yes, of course. Are you going to pick him up now, Touya-san?"

"Yes, thank you."

After he had made sure that he got the address right and thanking the woman once again, Akira hung up the phone with the promise that he would get there and picked the dog as soon as possible. Her house was in the suburb of Tokyo and it made him wondered if Shindou was held nearby. After all, Sai-sensei was following the kidnapper, right?

After a few undecided moments, he finally decided to call the police and gave this information to them. As expected, the police didn't take this seriously and only agreed to send some people there after Akira had said that he would go there and investigate with or without their help.

After that task was done, he quickly called Ashiwara so that the man could give him a ride to the woman's house. The older man had been helpful and he had arrived only ten minutes after Akira made the call. His only explanation to the 8-dan was that Shindou Hikaru had been kidnapped this morning and his dog, which had followed the kidnapper's van, had been found so there was the possiblity that Shindou might not be too far from where they found the dog.

Fortunately, the traffic was rather light and the ride to the suburb only took about two hours. When he got out from the car, Akira was greeted by a blur of back and white that jumped at him with a loud yowl.

"Hi, Sibe." Greeted Akira with a small smile. "Did you know where Shindou is? Can you help us find him?"

The dog gave a small nod and immediately jumped down from Akira's arms. Luckily, neither Ashiwara nor the woman noticed that. And when Sai started to trace his way back to the kidnapper's house, Akira followed him without hesitation. His older friend, who had finished explaining everything to the old lady, soon followed him.

It was already dark and the terrain wasn't familiar to them but at least they had a flashlight so they could still see where their guide was going. But the further they got from the old lady's house, the more agitated Ashiwara became.

"Are you sure it isn't too dangerous to go there by ourselves, Akira-kun?" Asked the wavy-haired man, nervously.

"Of course. There are three of us if we counted Sibe, and the kidnapper is alone. We will be able to out strength him if the need arise." Answered Akira confidently.

"What makes you so sure that he is alone? We should have asked Ogata-san and some other people to come along too." Came the reply.

"The police told me to keep this thing as quiet as possible so that his friends and family won't get panic, that means I can't tell too many people, Ashiwara-san. Trust me, the kidnapper is insane. Most insane people work alone." At least that was what the books said.

"Most? What about the rest?" But Akira didn't reply him this time because not far in front of them he could finally see a building looming in the darkness and by the look of it, Sai was going to bring them to said building.

The house was completely dark so it was either abandoned or the owner didn't bother to turn on the lights. Once they had arrived right before the front door, Ashiwara knocked the door hesitantly but no answer came. And when they tried to open it, they found that it was locked.

"Shall we find another way in?" Asked Ashiwara with an unsure tone.

Akira looked at Sai for confirmation, and when the dog only nodded, he voiced his agreement. "Yes, I guess so. Let's go…"

All the other doors, other than the garage door, were locked as well so they ended up moving their attention to the windows. And after much stumbling and cursing in the dark, they finally found one that wasn't completely closed so that they could push it to open wide enough.

"Hello? Anybody there?" Shouted Ashiwara loud enough to make Akira cringed and glared at him.

"What? I'm just making sure that no one's in there. I mean, we're not even sure that this is the right house, right? I don't want to get arrest for breaking into people's house without any good reason." Retorted the 8-dan innocently.

Akira was about to say something along the line of how it would ruin their element of surprise when Sai suddenly jumped inside through the now open window. And for a few seconds both Akira and Ashiwara could only stare at each other before deciding to follow the dog's example and stopped wasting precious time.

The two Go professionals fell ungracefully on the floor and had to spend some times to find the light switch of the room that they were currently in. Once the light was on, they started to look around the room to find the Husky. But it seemed that the dog was no longer there and already went to look for Hikaru.

But when Akira called his name, he replied with a loud howl, informing his location to the two humans.

"Hurry, this way!" Shouted Akira, running to the direction of the voice.

They found Sibe in front of a sturdy looking door. And it already tried frantically to open it without success.

"Is Shindou-kun in here?" Asked Ashiwara to the dog, while Akira went straight to the door and tried to open it but as he had expected, the door was locked. He then started to pound as hard as he could, but no matter how hard he did that, the door still wouldn't make much sound. "Shindou?! Are you in there? Answer me!"

"Why isn't he answering, Ashiwara-san?" Asked Akira with growing panic.

"I don't know." Answered the older man distractedly. But when he spoke again, he sounded determined. "Akira-kun, do you bring one of your little hair clips with you?"

"Uhm, yes. I always bring one or two in my wallet. Why?" Replied the obviously embarrassed Akira. So what if his hair was long and he had to use hair clips to keep it tidy sometimes?

"Can I borrow one? I might be able to open this lock with it."

"Huh?" O-of course. You never told me that you're into lock picking." Answered Akira before he took one of the hair clips from his wallet and handed it to his friend.

"It's not something to be proud of, Akira-kun. Besides, I haven't done this for more than a decade now. I've stop practicing on it ever since I studied Go seriously. Now stop talking and let me work in peace." Said Ashiwara and than he kneeled before the door to start working with the lock.

After five long minutes that consisted many curses, a broken hair clip, and some scratches on the pick locker's fingers; they finally heard the satisfying clicked from the lock.

"It works!" Shouted the kneeling 8-dan. But he was ignored because Akira had already opened the door and entered the room.

But the sight that greeted him made him stopped. There, laying on the floor and looking lifeless, was Shindou Hikaru. And the only thing that Akira could do was stare while Sai ran straight to the young man's side. He still didn't move even when Ashiwara walked pass him into the room and kneeling beside the 5-dan to check for his pulse.

"His heart is still beating but weakly." Announced the kneeling man. "Hurry, let's bring him out. I think he had passed out because the lack of air."

The news made Akira felt relieved and he finally could move again. Together, he and Ashiwara carried Shindou out of the room and back to the opened window. And when they managed to bring the unconscious pro out through it, Akira could hear a faint sound of siren closing in their way.

"That's the police. I hope they bring an ambulance with them. We will need to bring Shindou to the hospital as soon as possible." Said Akira once they were already settled on the grassy surface of the yard.

"Yeah. I'm so glad that we've been able to find him in time. I can't even imagine what will happen if we come even an hour later than now. I guess it's all thanks to his dog, right?" Replied Ashiwara.

"Yes, you're right." Answered Akira before turning to stare at Sai. "You're a hero, you know that?"

And the Huksy's only reply was a short yowl before he returned his attention to his ex-pupil.

TBC


	8. All's Well That Ends Well

Disclaimer & Warning: Same as always.

Author's note: Here it is folks. This is the last chapter of SAINU. Sorry it takes forever for me to update, but my dog (the inspiration for this story) died so I kind of lost the mood to write and I'm also very busy lately. Thanks to all the readers and reviewers.

**Chapter VIII – All's Well That Ends Well**

"…exactly. Touya said that it was all thanks to Sibe that he and Ashiwara-san were able to find me in time before it was too late."

Even from few paces away from the door, Akira could already hear Shindou's loud voice as the young man talked to his friends about what happened two days prior. It seemed that ever since the news spread out that Shindou Hikaru had been committed to Tokyo Hospital, his friend's room was always filled with many people during the visiting hours. Akira knocked before opening the door. And when the room's occupants saw who was coming, they became silent.

Shindou, who still wasn't allowed to leave his bed, waved at him cheerfully, while most of the people around his bed only nodded at Akira with respect. These were the friends from the 5-dan Go Club at Haze, so most of them only knew him as Touya Akira, the fabled Go prodigy. The only person who greeted him was Shindou's childhood friend, Fujisaki, who he would always remember thanks to the cat's fur incident.

"Touya-kun, I'm really glad to see you again. I was hoping that you would arrive before we have to leave because I want to thank you personally for saving Hikaru's life. Without you, he would surely die," said Fujisaki sincerely, ignoring Shindou's protest.

"Y-you're welcome. But I think the one that you should thank the most is Shindou's dog. I was only helping… along with Ashiwara-san, of course," stuttered the now blushing Akira. Even after all this time, he was still not used to attention and he could feel without seeing all the stares that were directed toward him.

"Oh don't be so modest, Touya-kun. The dog found him but you and Ashiwara-san were the ones who saved Hikaru," replied Fujisaki.

Before Akira could retort any further, she cheerfully announced that she had to leave and after saying a quick goodbye to Shindou and the others, she left. The others soon followed until only Akira left in the room.

"So, any news?" asked Shindou eagerly as Akira took a seat on a metal chair next to his bed.

"Yes, good news in fact and more than one. Ogata-san called this morning. He said the police had finally caught your kidnapper last night at the harbor when he was trying to board a ship to Taiwan," answered Akira calmly.

"Really? How? Why wasn't I told about it last night?" spluttered the 5-dan.

"Well, it was only by chance that they were able to catch him actually. He was so well prepared, complete with fake ID and whatsoever. It was just his lack of luck that one of the other passengers, who happened to be an off duty detective, recognized his face from the wanted database and called his colleagues at the base right away. I don't know why they dont't tell you about this. Perhaps they want to wait until at least you're discharge from the hospital."

"Hmph! So what are they going to do to him? I hope he'll spend the rest of his life in prison."

"According to Ogata-san he'll be prosecuted with two charges, kidnapping and attempt of murder. I'm sure with the two of them combined; he will end up staying in prison for a very long time. In fact, a lifelong sentence is also possible if I'm not mistaken."

"Possibility eh? But I guess that'll do for now," answered Hikaru dejectedly.

"I have another good news for you," added Akira with a smile, trying to lift his friend's mood a bit. "Your parents are returning to Japan to visit you. They'll arrive the day after tomorrow. So at least you'll have your mother to take care of you when you get out of here."

"Ugh! Please forgive me if I'm not too excited with that prospect after my father's rejection to even try to pay my ransom. Mom is fine I guess, but the fuss that she'll shower over me doesn't worth even a bowl of the tastiest ramen in Japan," answered the young man on the bed.

Hearing that, Akira only raised his brows with a disbelieving expression.

"Really, Touya. Right now, I don't want to see them. Besides, I got you to cook for me and do my laundry, and of course Sai to cheer me up and play Go with me, so I don't actually need them," added Hikaru with a wink.

Akira was about to protest that he's not Shindou's servant, but suddenly his rival changed the topic of their discussion.

"By the way, how's Sai doing? I kinda miss him," sighed Shindou.

"He's fine. I left him with Ashiwara-san at the apartment and he doesn't seem to mind. He was rather agitated if I might say. But I think that's because he's worried about you," answered Akira reassuringly.

"So, I guess despite this whole mess, everything will be alright, eh? I really hope that he'll stay for good this time. I still have nightmares from his departure a few years ago, I'm not sure I'll be able to handle it if he leaves again," said his friend softly, a look of apprehension clouding his face.

Akira only nodded slowly at his friend's show of emotion. Shindou was a happy-go-lucky kind of person who rarely worried about anything at all, so this display showed how much he cared about his teacher.

"It's alright. I'm sure he'll stay this time."

To be honest, Akira also wasn't sure about that? He wasn't even sure if the Go master himself knew that he was going to stay for good or not. But his rival didn't need anymore thing to worry about right now. He was already depressed enough without adding this matter to the list of his problems. So, with a smile of assurance he added, "After all, his goal is to reach the Hand of God, right? And to reach it, he'll need to play many more games with my father. So, I'm sure he's not going anywhere until then…"

Akira was about to say something else, but suddenly the hospital door opened and two of Shindou's friends, Waya and Isumi, entered the room. Waya didn't even try to hide the look of dislike from his face when he saw the raven haired Go pro. Isumi gave him a nod of acknowledgement and greeted him by saying, "Touya-san" softly.

Seeing that his presence would only cause awkwardness, Akira decided that it was time for him to leave. He quickly rose from the metal chair and said that he needed to leave because he was already late for a study session. And, after a wave at Shindou and a quick bow to Isumi-san, he left the room.

When the door closed behind him, he could hear Shindou's loud voice as the 18 years old reprimanded Waya for his rudeness.

"Waya! How many times have I told you to stop being rude at Touya, besides he was the one who saved my life! Can you at least…"

Akira couldn't hear the rest of the sentences because he was already too far from the room. But he couldn't stop a small smile from appearing at the corner of his mouth as he walked to the elevator.

000

At the apartment, Ashiwara was lounging on the sofa, dozing off with the newest issue of Go Weekly on his lap. A look of relaxation graced his face. On the contrary, the little husky that sat near his feet looked far from calm. The dog, or to be more exact the ghost that inhabited the dog's body, had felt constant anxiousness ever since his bleached bangs friend had been admitted to the hospital.

He was worried about Hikaru, yes, but the main reason for his anxiousness was not the young man, but the fear that he had lost his purpose to stay on Earth and would be summoned back to heaven soon. After all, the reason that God had sent him back was to ensure Hikaru's safety and now he had completed that purpose.

Anytime now, they could call him back, and he might not even have a chance to say goodbye to Hikaru and Touya-kun before he had to leave. He was so busy worrying, that even Touya-kun realized his unusual behavior and the young man seemed reluctant to leave Sai all by himself.

True to his fear, suddenly a bright light engulfed him until he was unable to see Ashiwara or anything else in the room. When the light subsided, Sai was no longer in the apartment room and, he realized belatedly, now stood on two feet.

When he finally recognized the room where he was in and the entity who sat in front of him, Sai fell to his knees and bowed as deep as he could, his face nearly touching the floor.

"Kami-sama…" he said reverently.

"Fujiwara no Sai!" boomed the voice from the throne. "I see that you have succeeded in protecting your former pupil, even though you also had selfishly used the chance to pursue your life's goal of reaching the Hand of God."

Hearing that, Sai's face grown pale and he quickly tried to defend himself, "Kami-sama, please forgive me. I know it was wrong of me to do that. But, I really…"

Before he was able to continue his sentence, God stopped him with a wave of His hand. "Worry not about it. I have decided to be lenient and forgive you for that. Don't you think that you would be summoned long before this if I wish to punish you for that."

Sai was so relieved to hear that answer and he started to smile, but God wasn't done talking yet.

"You've done great, but now, the time has come for you to return to us. You can't stay on Earth any longer. You do not belong there. The boy will do fine on his own from now on."

Having his fear confirmed, Sai could only stared blankly at the ground for a few moments, but then an idea appeared in his head. He knew he was pushing it but there was nothing wrong with trying, right?

"Kami-sama, I know you had been very graceful to me for allowing me to help Hikaru, but may I be bold and request for something?" he said fearfully.

"What is it that you wish for, Fujiwara no Sai?"

"I wish that I can extend my time on Earth for a few more days? At least until I can give my proper farewell to Hikaru. That's all I wish for," answered the long haired ghost apprehensively.

"I have guessed that you will make such request," said God with a sad smile. "But I cannot grant it."

Sai's face fell immediately with that statement.

"To compensate though, I will grant you permission to say goodbye to the boy through his dream. You will be able to 'say' your farewell more properly that way."

That only lifted a little of the heaviness in his heart though. The last time he left, he also simply disappeared and then visited Hikaru in his dream to give the boy his fan, if he done the same thing again now, his young friend would be very disappointed. Of course, this time it'll be better because he'll be able to talk to his young friend.

Apparently God was able to sense his distress. Because He looked at Sai contemplatively and said, "Is it not good enough for you, Fujiwara?"

"It is, Kami-sama. But… I'm afraid Hikaru will be devastated if I leave him in the same manner as I did the last time. I was hoping that I can at least prepare him for my departure this time," answered Sai dejectedly. "But I will gratefully accept whatever decision that You've made."

"As I have said, your time on Earth has expired and to prolong your stay will only endanger your soul's existence. I am sorry that your time has run out before the boy can see you again, but there is nothing that I can do about it."

"Yes, Kami-sama. I understand." Sai could feel tears of hopelessness in his eyes as he accepted his defeat.

"I am able to give you another boon, though…" the voice in front of him continued softly.

Sai lifted his head so fast at those sentence that if he still had a body, his neck would surely break from the force.

000

Waya and Isumi-san had left after one of the nurses entered Hikaru's room and announced that visiting time is over. With a whine from Waya and a polite smile from Isumi-san, the two finally left and the nurse gave Hikaru his medicines.

He was already in a half-asleep state when he heard a soft voice.

"Hikaru… Hikaru…. Can you hear me?"

The soft voice sounded so familiar that even in his sleepy state Hikaru could still recognized it as Sai's. The 5-dan opened his eyes, but instead of the hospital room that he currently occupied, he could see the same meadow that he dreamt about when the ghost gave him his fan four years ago.

'Oh, no, no, no, no… Please don't let this mean what I think it is,' thought the young man fearfully.

"Sai? Is that you?"

"Yes, Hikaru. Please forgive me, but I was summoned back to heaven this morning. I had begged for more time, but it was not possible for me to stay longer," said the Go master sadly.

"Wait? Is this means that you already left Sibe's body? Why? I thought you would stay for good this time? I don't understand…" rambled Hikaru with growing panic.

"The purpose of my return was to protect you from the peril that you had faced and I had succeeded in doing so. You're safe now and my time has run out, I have to return. Please understand, Hikaru. I don't want to leave either, but I have no choice."

Hikaru was too tired to argue right now, and to be honest, he knew all along that this moment, sooner or later, would come. He also knew that Sai didn't lie when he said that he had no choice in the matter. If there was anyone else who wished as much as he was, or perhaps even more, that the ghost could stay, that would be the Go master himself. And he didn't want to spend his last moment with his ex-tutor with bickering and whining.

"I know. I just wish that you'll at least stay until you've reached the Hand of God this time. Touya-sensei won't be pleased when he finds out that you've left again," answered Hikaru sadly.

"I doubt that I will ever reach it though," said the ghost with a sad smile. "So I hope you and Touya-kun will be able to reach it someday."

"I promise to reach it Sai. I won't fail. Don't worry about it."

"I know," said the Go master with a smile. Suddenly a flash of light could be seen not far away and Sai simply nodded at it. "Hikaru, I have to leave now. Please be strong until we meet again. Farewell my friend."

Hikaru was surprised when he heard the ghost's farewell greeting. "What? Sai, what do you mean until we meet again? Is that mean you'll return? Sai? Sai!"

But the long haired spirit had already faded and only gave him a cryptic smile as he disappeared completely from the meadow.

With a start, Hikaru woke up to see that he was still in the hospital room. Dejectedly, he simply stared at the ceiling for a long time, without acknowledging the wet trails of tears on his face.

000

_Two years later_

A rather annoying sound disturbed Shindou Hikaru's beauty sleep and the go pro swept his hand in irritation to the nightstand beside his bed. After finding the source of the disturbance, a rather ugly and big alarm clock that Touya bought for him, he whacked it and then mumbled incoherently.

But his eyes suddenly opened when he remembered what day it was and why he had set his alarm so early. May 5th. The most important day of the year for Hikaru ever since Sai had left. On this day last year he had the most amazing surprise that he wouldn't forget for the rest of his life, but dared he hope that this surprise would repeated this year?

Slowly and apprehensively he got out of bed and walked out of his room. It was still very early in the morning and even Touya hadn't waked up yet. Carefully, he approached Sibe's bed near the kitchen counter. He had decided to keep the dog even though Sai had already left. Surprisingly, Touya didn't protest when he told his rival about this decision. In fact, it was Touya who made the bed in the kitchen for Sibe, saying that it wasn't healthy for Hikaru to let it slept in his room.

"Sai?" whispered the two tone haired young man as he stood beside Sibe's bed.

Hikaru knew that he was pushing his luck, but he couldn't help but hope that Sai would return again this year. Last year, unexpectedly, Sibe woke him up early in the morning and pulled Hikaru to the _goban_ in the living room. And the next thing he knew, he was playing against Sai again. Touya had been ecstatic about it too, and the two of them ended up spending that day playing go with Sai. But the day after, Sibe returned to its normal dog self, so the two understood that the miracle was only for a day.

That was why Hikaru and Touya took a day off today, and the night before went into a rather frantic preparation, just in case the Go master returned again this year. Touya even acted as far as making sure that his father, the ex-meijin, was in town for this occasion. So it would be a great disappointment if their prediction turned out to be wrong.

Hikaru tried to call Sai again, this time accompanied with a soft nudge at Sibe's body. The dog stirred and stared at Hikaru for a moment, but then it gave a happy whoop and ran to the living room. Hikaru ran after it and shouted a loud "YES!" when he arrived at the living room and saw that the dog was running around the _goban_.

Touya was awoken by all the noise and joined them in the living room not long after that. The sight that greeted him when he entered was that of his rival hugging the now big husky.

"Is that Sai-sensei?" he asked with a hopeful look on his face.

Before Hikaru could answer him, the dog gave a loud howl to affirm his suspicion. Smiling brightly, the now 9-dan Go pro approached with a wide smile.

"So is this mean that it'll be an annual event Sensei? Can I play you after you're done with Shindou? Oh, I'll call my father! You want to play him again, right?" bombarded the usually calm young man, while running to the phone to arrange a game between Sai and his father.

The day went perfectly after that. Sai played two games against Touya Kouyo and many games against Hikaru and Akira until he had to leave again. And even though the two rivals were disappointed when that happened, at least now they were quite sure that next year the Go playing ghost would return again. This only spurred them even more to improve their skills as much as they could to be worthy opponents for him the next time they played.

Of course there were many things that still made Hikaru worried, like what would happen when Sibe died and about Touya-sensei's declining health, but one thing he knew for sure was that even if Sai never reached the Hand of God, Hikaru would continue his effort until he finally reached it.

The end

AN: There it goes. I've finally paid my debt. I hope it's not a disappointment. To anyone who read it, thanks for your patience.


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